Passplay Configuration
BIOS Updates
SCSI-2 RAID Controller
"Passplay" FRU 92F0335
Stuff that is relevant, but chaotic... (fits, doesn't
it?)
Fast Wide RAID Adapter (Passplay) FRU 92F0335
Notes:
U9,15,21,29
UC5601DWP 9-Line Active SCSI Terminator Datasheet U15,16 NCR 53C720 Datasheet
and Programming
Guide Substitution Intel A80960CF datasheet i960 Microprocessor Performance Brief U16 Dallas DS1225Y-200 64KB Nonvolatile SRAM datasheet SCSI Channel Equivalents
(non-bay values)
DAC960 Trivia?
Indicator _____ Meaning if ON
NVSRAM
Function
Cable
Parts
A Better Cable Hack?
My Take on it:
Could you slit the flat cable up towards
the controller
and get the very flexible cable bundle of the IBM
original? The black sheathing
is available from Jameco for about $1 a foot. Well worth
it, IMHO. (Start
the slit with an X-Acto and use the reverse of the blade
to finish parting
the conductors???) The sheathing is Techflex Cable Sleave,
looks to be the
3/8" size. Sold in a 25' spool. Part #162157,
Product # CCPT2X per spool $14.95 Techflex is HERE
IML/Boot
Limits
of Passplays
HD
LED Doesn't
Work
Cyrix/Non-SOD
Incompatibility?
Cache Size Go HERE for the details IBM or Generic
SIMMs?
Not sure if this fits- RAID Supplemental Diskette Version 2.0 And the Readme.txt the IBM SCSI-2 F/W PCI-Bus RAID Adapter, and the Mylex PL adapter for the IBM PC Server 704. NOTE:All
non-SurePath (flash based) systems require a standard
SCSI
adapter or system board resident SCSI controller
connected to an
IML and/or boot hard file.
The lone exception is the Type 1 486DX2-66
Upgrade complex with flash ROM. Saving
a Passplay Flashed With Cheetah Microcode
He said: "You need a Cheetah adapter to flash back to Passplay level. The Passplay with the Cheetah-firmware will refuse to re-flash. Remove both - the Flash-ROM and the EEPROM - and stuff it into a Cheetah adapter. Then run the Passplay Flash diskette to reprogram it to level 1.6x (Ed.: or 1.99 actually). Then re-install the two chips on the Passplay and it will work again." Never tried it myself however.
Passplay Code Releases Hakan Gadler asked: By the way, why did they jump from version >1.6 something to 1.99? From Peter
1.60
Initial code worked only with early Passplay
board releases.
Complex BIOS Requirements There are however some dependencies between the Raid-adapter microcode and that of the complex. You should not run the Raid with a complex BIOS below 03. The BIOS 10 has been announced to fix Y2K problems with OS/2 AFAIK. If you flash the complex to10 and keep the old Raid microcode you might run into problems. It should be 1.63 at least - especially if you have the P90 platform, which appears to the Raid microcode as Server 500 with the differing backplane layout - the return codes to the RAIDADM then might not reflect the "real" position of the drives on the backplane. Slots Passplay will Fit The Passplay is a Type 5 form factor card (it's big). There are cutouts in 95 and 95A cases that will allow the edge of the card at the bracket end to fit. Dennis Smith turned me on to them. Slots 2-4 have these cutouts- The 95s don't have a cushion in them, 95As do.
More Than
One Passplay?
From Peter
As I wrote: it does not make sense to
install more than
one of the Passplay adapters anyway. For the Cheetah,
which has a rear
port and can use the "sidecar card" to route the Channel
1 to the rear
as well for e.g. a 3518 expansion unit (and a total of
14 additional devices)
things look different. But the Cheetah isn't an oversized card.
It is a standard
full size 32-bit card - but it does not exceed the
average card *height*
- and that's the most sensible criteria in a 95A box
regarding airflow.
Not speaking of DC-load on a single MCA slot. That's
another criteria that
might forbid using too many of the "Big" cards in a
machine. Not everything that *could* be installed is supported - and not every amount of cards is a) practicable, b) supported and/or c) works reliable. Even if the 400W PSU on the 95A might appear as a bottomless pit (current-wise) the base planar and the slots have physical limits on what current you can draw among it. >We know that we can stuff multiple Cheetahs in a 9595A, PC Server 500 or 720, but I've never seen any more than ONE Passplay in a 9595A. Does anyone know if a tech manual anywhere makes a definitive statement on this subject? Uhm ... given that
the adapter is
in fact "hardware castrated" (and that this is not an
affect of the adapter
BIOS and the Raid management software) it were useless
to stuff in a second
adapter anyway. In a 9595A you simply don't have the
room to install more
drives ... and the adapter has not been announced for
different models.
The Server 500 uses the "Cheetah" instead. The
"Passplay" has been designated
as "Server 95A Raid" adapter in various publications
and its sole usage seems
to be in a Server 95A. It had
a very limited purpose due to the lack of an external
port (which were
as well -again- of limited use if our assumptions
regarding the ID-assignments
/ limitations are correct).
LVD on Passplay >What kind of drives does the RAID take? Is F/W DIFFERENTIAL SCSI the right kind? Or are LVD (low voltage differential) different and it needs them instead? I've never dealt with RAID before. From Peter
# of Drives
Supported
The adapter supports only 7 devices. Technically it is a Fast-SCSI adapter, but only a single channel with a crippled ID-section. It does not use the MSB of the ID signal, even if you attach a Wide device to it. The thing is a bit mixed up and screwed down. It has two ports to make cabling easier for upper and lower bay - electronically they are treated as one port. RAID without
Bays 'n Trays
Passplay under
W95
Helmut P. Einfalt Wrote:
You need to install IBMRAID.SYS (in DOS
directory of RAID
Diskette 1) even if and when the controller does fine
under DOS. I installed
it manually, although I presume that Uinstall.exe would
do as well, however
after all the time I spent with the machine I wanted to
have a manual go
at it... What no Readme (by IMB) tells you is
hidden in the Mylex
DAC960 Readme: To work properly under Win9x, this driver
must be installed
*before* any memory manager such as Himem.sys.... Did that, booted, and up came Win95 continuing the installation procedure it broke off at the first "real" Windows start... Transplanted the whole system (Raid cage w/3 drives,
passplay) to the
Same setup:
The Fujitsu (set to SCSI 6 !!!) contains
nothing but the
IML -- the rest is formatted, no OS, nothing. The
Passplay array still
has DOS 7 and Win95 (basic installation w/o knickknack
for the moment --
the installation completed on the 95A after so many
woes)... And now comes the surprising part: Powered up the machine -- and up came Win95 without a hitch. The Win95 I had installed on the passplay RAID. Here we are.
Prerequisites:
DOS=HIGH
Probably you could put the IBMRAID.SYS even before the
DOS=HIGH statement,
but since it ain't broke I don't want to fix it right
now...
Passplay and CD Under Win NT 4.0 For those of us wandting a kick-ass CD burning machine, the 85/95/95A systems provide the tools for success (the 9577 have the room as well). For the 95 sized systems, the first issue is which slot to stick the Passplay in. You can use Slots 2-4, which have cutouts for the form factor 5 cards. The second issue is a cable with the correct connector and sufficient length. I used a short cable from the Server 500, with three HPDB68 drops. For Channel 1 (connector to front of system) set the CD to ID0 (assume you are using a 50-68 pin adapter), and put the wide drive (ID1 to 3) at the end of the SCSI cable (assume in top 5.25" bay), enable termination. Make sure you have the power and SCSI cables connected... NOTE: When using the short Server 500 cable, the SCSI connector may be pulled out of the SCSI HD when you push the CD all the way in. I had a Passplay in Slot 4, short SCSI cable to a 50-68 pin adapter on CD, and the HD on the last HPDB68. Make sure with that configuration that you use the first HPDB68 for the CD and the end HPDB68 for the HD. If you use two HPDB68 that are next to each other, the length between the devices may be too long and the HPDB68 for the bottom device may be pulled partway off of the SCSI port. End result - the device is not visible to the configuration program. NOTE: The CD will not show up under View Configuration, since you cannot add it to an array. To my surprise, a CD is usable to the NT 4 setup
floppies (remember
to use "S" to choose Mylex DAC960 when choosing mass
storage devices).
I was able to use the Passplay connected CD for NT 4
setup and installation.
CD continues to work without problems after install as
well.
Mylex DAC960M Firmware The Mylex Manufacturing Part ("D040") number can be located on the back of the DAC960 controller, and uniquely identifies the model and number of channels on the controller. It does not identify the amount of memory installed, or the FW/BIOS versions, since these can be updated. When referring to this D040 number, please use the entire number, since this will help Technical Support identify specific features.
Mfg.No.
Mylex Model
I have an older controller with version 2.xx FW, can I
update the FW
to the 3.xx? Not all boards will support the upgrade to
3.xx firmware.
If the controller has a revision number of D040347 or
greater, the board
will support the upgrade. This revision label is usually
found on the back
(non-component side of the board).
Specifications for FW RAID
Interrupt Level
BIOS Base Address
I/O Address
DMA Arbitration Level
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